The blog of the University of Edinburgh's PIR subject area

At the Scottish Conservative conference in March, Theresa May, the home secretary, suggested that an independent Scotland would be more at risk from terrorism. She said that as an independent state Scotland would not benefit from the protection of the UK security and border agencies.

Is she right? Security is all about risk and uncertainty. True facts are hard to come by, especially about the future. When will the next terrorist attack occur? Who will commit it? What will be its target? No one can be sure. So how can Scottish politicians counter May’s claim?

The home secretary has the whip hand in this argument. MI5, the UK Border Agency and the police answer to her. She has a strong claim to have better security knowledge than most. In a realm of uncertainty, knowledge is power…